GLEAM TEAM
Time to get your glow on
In the face of social and political gloom, designers are choosing glitter.
WHILE THE SS18 RUNWAYS had plenty to suggest we women are ready for battle – the return of cargos, a buckling down on trench coats, Tomb Raider 2.0-inspired khaki tones – there was another kind of rebellion happening of the sparkly variety. Designers chose to say it with sequins, and the message was unmistakable: we will be seen, we will be heard and we’ll be damned if we don’t live life centre stage in our own personal spotlight.
If there was a moment that summed up the new mood, our vote goes to Kaia Gerber on the Saint Laurent runway (above). Picture a balmy Paris night, 20,000 twinkling lights outlining the Eiffel Tower in the distance and one genetically blessed 16-year-old in a dream bubble dress of black glitter. With her hair casually swept back and shimmering earrings falling from her lobes to her décolletage, she was not only the face of a season but the face of a new attitude. It was the exact same attitude her mum Cindy Crawford displayed on the Versace runway, dressed in liquid gold. Their look didn’t say zero fucks exactly – that would imply they weren’t woke women of the world – but their chin-up, straight-backed demeanour said, “Yes, I’m going to shine, and hell no I don’t need permission.”
The overriding effect was one of much-needed joy and optimism. Glitter, not gloom. As creative director Anthony Vaccarello said backstage after his moment-making show: “That girl of Saint Laurent – she wants to have fun... She wants to enjoy life!” The same could be said at Tom Ford, where power shoulders got the glitter treatment, Coach 1941, where sequinned shifts were worn with stomping boots, and Gucci, where jumpers were dripping in discs of gold and silver in a high-low mix that perfectly captured the way this trend should be worn: anytime, anywhere, and preferably in technicolour.
It’s easy to see why Kirakira+ was the most-used app of the season – the glimmering glow it gives to all things reflective means the high-shine heroes from the runway were among the most snapped and shared. But this trend is not about likes. It’s about feeling fantastic in your high-wattage boots, bodacious gown or star-bright bag, whether anyone else likes it or not. As the much-instagrammed saying goes: “You should give a fuck. You really should. But only about things that set your soul on fire and get you to where you wanna be in life. Save your fucks for magical shit.” To which Chelsea Handler recently added: “Don’t give a shit about what anyone says, good or bad. You’re not anyone else’s idea of you. You’re you.”
This season, you be you, in sequins.